Grays Harbor County has become the first — and only — county on the Olympic Peninsula to officially oppose the expansion of protected forest and river areas as promoted by the group Wild Olympics.

In a four-page letter sent to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Norm Dicks on Monday, the Grays Harbor County Board of Commissioners said the expansion of wilderness areas would be detrimental to the timber industry and the economy.

“We support environmental conservation, but this proposal would take timberland out of production,” the letter said.

“Any reduction or further regulation of our timber industry threatens the very livelihoods that people have relied on for generations.”

Quilcene-based Wild Olympics, a coalition of conservation groups, has proposed designating 134,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land as wilderness where no logging would be allowed, allowing Olympic National Park to buy up to 37,000 acres of land with a willing seller and designating wild and scenic areas along 23 rivers within the park and Olympic National Forest, which could limit logging to only forest thinning.

Federal proposal

In response, Dicks and Murray last year proposed a less expansive approach to forest and river conservation.

Their proposal, which has not been turned into legislation, would designate 130,000 acres of Forest Service land as wilderness, create the 23 wild and scenic river systems, and allow the park to buy up to 20,000 acres of mostly private forest land if a willing seller is found.

Jefferson County commissioners, who voted in support of Wild Olympics’ proposal two years ago, before Dicks’ and Murray’s counterproposal, have taken a different approach to the issue.

Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan said it would have little impact on the timber industry because much of the land that would become wilderness is difficult to access or is already subject to more stringent regulations due to their proximity to streams.

“A lot of the land is probably better for hunting and fishing and promoting other uses in the forest,” he said.

Clallam County commissioners also voted in support of Wild Olympics’ proposal in February 2010 as long as property owners aren’t forced to sell their land to the park.

No position

Mason County commissioners have not taken a position on either proposal, Commissioner Tim Sheldon said.

A Wild Olympics spokesman couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

The letter from Grays Harbor County commissioners also refers to a reduction in federal spending on national parks and questions whether an expansion of parkland can be financially sustained.

Along with timber groups, the Port Angeles Business Association and Clallam County Republican Party also have voiced opposition to the proposals.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.